WECRAFT: a Platform for Networking Rural Craftsmen in Co-Production of Artisanal Crafts

India is a growing country with over 1.2 billion people, out of which more than two-thirds still live in rural areas. Indian rural areas are vibrant heritage-wise. They have both a fascinating hard and soft heritage legacy. Each region has many kinds of villages, and each is characterized by specific arts and crafts skills developed over the centuries. Small settlements retain fascinating heritage, which should be acknowledged and protected. Nowadays, rural villages are slowly perishing and losing their skilled people under the pressure of migration to cities. Rural settlements are suffering the exodus of young people and losing their art and craft skilled artisans. Since these settlements have been neglected, how do we bring attention to these fascinating areas? How do we allow skilled artisans to make a living and want to remain in rural areas? How do we provide a more sustainable future for both our rural and urban settlements? WECRAFT is an initiative that addresses these concerns by combining the best of affordable technologies and humanities, planning to enhance village areas, their skilled artisans and their products. This paper focuses on the requirements we collected and designs the WECRAFT solution.